1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed toward an educational game apparatus which requires the players to match key words or symbols to one or more subwords or subsymbols. Correct matches by a player translate into moves for the player's pieces around a gameboard and result in the eventual achievement of the gameboard objectives.
2. Prior Art Statement
Game apparatus utilizing gameboards or card decks make common subject matter for patent applications. While the prior art teaches game boards and card decks designed to stimulate the mental faculties of the players, it does not teach the combination of both, whereby the cards exercise and expand the player's knowledge of a particular subject area and the movement of playing pieces on the gameboard, (moves being awarded for correct answers to the stimulus on the cards), requires strategic logic on the part of the player to have the playing pieces land on their final resting spaces.
Various configurations of gameboards have been patented for their designs. U.S. Pat. No. 41,844 to Cooke describes a gameboard with spokes radiating from a center circle, where the spokes intersect two additional rings of circles of larger diameter concentric to the center circle, and whereby spaces are located at these intersections. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 223,846 to Richard D. Smith, similarly describes the design of a game board comprising a plurality of line-connected circles which outline a hexagon. A design laid out in rectangular areas, so connected as to depict a pathway for movable game pieces, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 57,982 to Loring.
Some game apparatus teach the manipulation of playing pieces on a gameboard of concentric design for the sole effort of capturing an opponent's playing pieces. U.S. Pat. No. 1,196,748 to R.B. Smith describes a game where spaces on the gameboard are located at the intersection of spokes radially extending to intersect concentric circles of varying diameters and the play is governed by rules outlining the specific directions in which playing pieces may move. U.S. Pat. No. 1,295,993 to Kleissl also permits circular and radial movement of playing pieces but stands apart from the prior art because the players begin with different numbers of playing pieces and because of the variety of ways in which one player may be declared the champion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,651 to Mankoff demonstrates a card game where a standard deck of playing cards bears a vocabulary word with a plurality of definition words to choose from on the front face of the card. Proper identification of the definition corresponds to a value on each card, so that once the correct definitions of vocabulary words have been chosen and the cards receive a value, the deck is then adaptable to traditional card games.
Another card game which may be played by one or more players is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,143,348 to Carsen, et. al. and describes cards bearing a question and a choice of answers on a front face and indicia on the back face which, when the player marks his answer by directing placement of the card in a certain group, identifies whether the player's response is correct.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,678,602 to Alam teaches the use of combining cards marked with word parts such as roots, prefixes and suffixes to create words and expand the user's vocabulary.
U.S Pat. No. 4,306,725 to Sawyer describes a deck of cards with words and their dictionary definitions printed thereon which players may use to test themselves or each other and where play progression is advanced by the spinning of a dial, the face of the dial bearing certain indicia identifying the next card to be selected.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,201,100 to Rice-Wray describes a board game designed to simulate a golf course, which uses a shuffle board method to determine the number of moves a player may advance, the object of the game being for each player to reach each `hole` and then to select a synonym from strips bearing words for the word located at that hole.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,003 to Elder is directed toward an educational word association board game wherein groups of two-sided play pieces, each side bearing information related to the other side and to other play pieces in a group, are laid out on a gameboard having plural arrays of unique playing positions and wherein players must guess the associated word/symbol on the back of the play piece to attain the opportunity to score.
Most similar to the invention at hand is the game described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,816, to Hunt which teaches a language game apparatus comprising a field made up of rows and columns for each player, with grammatical or language categories at the top of each column, one of the categories being selected by a player by chance, that player then having to select from a store of two-sided strips, a word that matches the category heading.
United Kingdom Pat. No. GB 2,187,393 to Hann shows a word related board game that has six apex spaces. Each space has a letter thereupon that spells out the name of the game "MASTER". Hann further comprises a deck of playing cards, wherein each card has a key word and a plurality of related subwords printed thereon.
U. S. Pat. No. 4,124,214 to Pavis shows a board game utilizing a plurality of decks of playing cards, each deck being distinguishable and corresponding to various levels of difficulty in play.
U S. Pat. No. 4,854,594 to Eaton shows a timing device to limit a player's response during play on a board game and the use of a penalty/reward deck separate from other card decks.
U. S. Pat. No. 1,518,306 to Clegg shows colored playing pieces that correspond to colored spaces on a game board, the game board having color neutral spaces positioned thereon for safe passage of game pieces that land on such spaces.
U. S. Pat. 4,932,667 to Gorski shows a game board with a plurality of apex spaces and a reciprocating game board pattern.
Finally, the unpatented game "What's the Word" discloses a word definition board game having a playing path and cards having key words and corresponding definitions, the cards being divided into differently colored decks with varying degrees of difficulty.
While only a few of the prior art inventions show more than one element of the currently claimed invention, the combination of all the prior art elements creates a substantial field of materials. Even when combined, the present invention differs in two respects: by allowing players to select the level of difficulty at each turn, and by asking players to make decisions regarding the parts of speech at each turn, thus allowing players of all competence levels to play simultaneously. Knowing that correct answers in different levels lead to different point awards which correspond to the number of moves a player may use to achieve an objective on the gameboard, a player may exercise his ability to logically manipulate the playing pieces to achieve such objectives, as well as increase his knowledge in the subject matter of the particular category at hand at the same time.
In view of this prior art, no prior invention or combination of inventions teaches, suggests or renders obvious all the elements of the now claimed invention. No prior art shows the use of the color organization, layout and substance of the game board, double sided playing pieces and cards. The unique combination of the game elements, as described below, describe an educational game that increases a player's vocabulary and provides entertainment in a manner previously not shown by prior art.